A hero British Airways pilot has been praised after he dramatically grounded a packed passenger plane despite two of its five sets of wheels malfunctioning.

The BA295 flight, which was bound for Chicago, returned to London's Heathrow Airport after the 'technical problems' yesterday afternoon and was immediately met by fire engines on the runway.

Passengers described the experience as 'very scary' and praised the pilot who managed to smoothly land the Boeing 747 after turning the aircraft around just two hours into the journey.

A replacement aircraft set off for Chicago at 9pm last night - nine hours after the original flight departure time - but some passengers said they were too distressed to board.

There were more than 300 people on board the original stricken flight - including 293 passengers and 14 crews members - when it turned around just south of Iceland, an airline spokesman said.

Passengers praised the BA pilot who grounded the plane after its landing gear failed in mid-air. This image shows the plane returning to London's Heathrow Airport with just two sets of wheels instead of five (front, left)

Sophie Garratt, foreign news editor at Sky News, was on the flight and tweeted this picture of the fire engines which met the aircraft after its dramatic emergency landing - there were a group of journalists on board the flight who were travelling to the Iowa caucuses

This picture shows the landing gear that failed after the flight took off for Chicago - it had to return to Heathrow

This picture (file) shows what was missing when the BA flight returned to London Heathrow during the flight

Several of those on board took to Twitter to share their concerns and thank the pilot for safely landing the faulty plane.

Muriel Gray tweeted: 'The hugest kisses and hugs to the British Airways pilot who just landed the plane my husband was on when the landing gear failed.

'Husband says BA pilot typically understated despite telling passengers how close a call that just was.'

Passenger Kevin Lang told MailOnline: 'It was a dramatic and stressful episode. It all started about two or three hours into the flight when we were just south of Iceland.

'The pilot came on and said there was a technical fault and we had to go back to London. He then said they would have to jettison fuel and all the passengers would see this but was reassuring us not be alarmed.

'We could tell how serious it was and he also said we would see fire engines when we landed.

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'It was a pretty smooth landing but you could feel the tension in the aircraft and you could see the emergency vehicles. We were then stuck on the runway and were told we could not leave the aircraft for the fear of tilting the plane over. The north runway was then closed as we were towed off the runway.

'We were on the stationary plane for about an hour as they had to carefully get us off. Coaches then took us back to the terminal.

'We were due to go back on the flight at 9pm (local time) but some people were really upset and distressed and said they couldn't go back on an aircraft.

'It was very scary even for a frequent flier like myself, but the staff have been excellent and the pilot was a credit to British Airways. '

The flight, bound for Chicago, was south of Iceland, when it turned back and returned to London Heathrow

Passenger Martin Robinson said: 'About three hours in we were told we would be returning to London due to a technical issue and it would take two hours to get back.

'About 20 minutes before landing we were told the landing gear would be lowered.

'We understand now there was a problem with landing gear and only three of the five wheel sets lowered.

'The pilot was brilliant, very cool and calm. We are currently sitting on runway waiting to be towed back. Emergency services were on stand by.

'I think the pilot nailed it. Everyone was calm. Landing was almost seamless. Better than other flights I've been on.'

Ben de Pear, editor of Channel 4 news, tweeted: 'Just landed back in Heathrow after BA295 to Chicago diverted back after 2 hours 4 'technical reasons' on runway met by fire engines.'

He said: 'They told us it was just a technical problem, but there was a huge noise and drag when they started circling and during the descent.'

He said only a pregnant woman and two others had not boarded the second flight.

Despite reports from Channel 4 that Prince Andrew was on the original flight, that was rejected by a British Airways source.

Muriel Gray tweeted her thanks to the pilot who landed the plane and said British Airways' pilots 'rule'

Passenger Martin Robinson said: The pilot was brilliant, very cool and calm. I think he nailed it'

Kevin Lang, a Liberal Democrat council candidate for Almond ward, in Edinburgh, in 2017, revealed how the passengers gave the hero pilot a 'big round of applause'

A Heathrow spokesman said a runway was closed for nearly an hour, which caused disruption to some flights.

He said: 'Due to a technical issue with an aircraft that needed resolving on the runway following landing, Heathrow operated with only one runway for a short time.

'We are sorry that this has caused some disruption to flights. All passengers should check with their airline before travelling to the airport.'

British Airways said in a statement: 'The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. As a precaution, one of our flights has returned to Heathrow due to a technical issue.

'We will move the aircraft from the runway and transfer customers to a replacement aircraft as soon our engineers have finished their checks. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused.

'Until our engineers have carried out a full inspection it would be wrong to speculate as to the cause of the issue.'

Captain Brendan O'Neal, chairman of the British Airline Pilots Association, praised the pilots.

He said: 'These pilots put their years of training and experience in to practice to keep their aircraft and passengers safe. They did a very professional job in difficult circumstances.

'Pilots across the UK and across all airlines know that although incidents like this are rare, they could happen to any of us at any time, and we have huge respect for the crews who fly with such skill and professionalism when it is needed.

'On behalf of the British Airline Pilots Association, I want to acknowledge the crew for keeping the passengers on this flight safe.

'We hope and are confident that the cause of the landing gear failure will be identified quickly and resolved.'